`Bachelorette' Begins Her Search For The Right Guy

TV Eye

January 14, 2004|By ROGER CATLIN; Courant TV Critic

Kelly Jo not only didn't get ``The Bachelor'' in the recent dating competition, she didn't even get the TV consolation prize, her own TV show.

Instead, ``The Bachelorette'' (ABC, 9 p.m.) is Meredith Phillips, the 30-year-old brunette who, in her most memorable scene on the old show, took Bob Guiney to her grandmother's gravesite. At least in her case, her grandmother was really dead, unlike similar claims for sympathy made on, say, ``Survivor'' last season. Now, Meredith will make a choice from among 25 suitors, a decision likely made more difficult by the fact that 24 of them look exactly alike.

The sight of Donald Trump gloating is not a pretty one. But the debut last week of his reality show ``The Apprentice'' (NBC, 8 p.m.) was so successful, drawing from 18 million to 27 million viewers, depending on whom you believe, the first episode will get a replay tonight. (The second episode is on Thursday). So watch the premiere again, if only to see which one was Kristi Frank, whose previous TV gig was on a Showtime skin movie. Also, you may learn the show's first business lesson: If you want to sell lemonade, at least make a decent sign.

``The Simple Life'' (Fox, 8 p.m.) reaches its inevitable end, and nobody could be happier than Paris and Nicole, who are free now to return to the shambles of their respective personal lives in Beverly Hills. But at least they'll have their credit cards, indulgent parents and cellphones. The Leding family will likely be glad to have their house guests leave, but they'll probably shed a tear, too, because they're decent folk.

There won't be an episode of ``The West Wing'' (NBC, 9 p.m.) quite like last week's, which not only mirrored a current Connecticut controversy regarding a copy of the Bill of Rights but also reopened local wounds about the departure of the Hartford Whalers. Will ``Brass Bonanza'' replace the show's theme? Probably not. Tonight, Marlee Matlin returns as a pollster, testing the reaction to the State of the Union speech and possible pardons by President Bartlet.

``House Doctor'' (BBC America, 8:30 p.m.) is a remodeling show with a slight twist: Ann Maurice makes small changes in houses that aren't selling to add to their appeal. Don't confuse it with ``Curb Appeal'' (HGTV, 7, 10 and 10:30 p.m.) or even ``Curb Your Enthusiasm'' (HBO, 9:30 p.m.).

The 100th anniversary next week of the birth of George Balanchine, often called the father of the American ballet, is marked with a rare repeat of a lavish 1984 biography on ``American Masters'' (CPTV, 9:30 p.m.) that includes remarkable footage matched by documentary shots of the master with his frequent collaborator, Igor Stravinsky.

MTV's Gideon Yago is the right age to sign up for military service, but he prefers to watch when he returns to Baghdad for the first time since March. ``Diary of Gideon in Iraq'' (MTV, 10:30 p.m.) includes Yago's conversations with young Iraqis about the postwar changes to their country and interviews with U.S. soldiers stationed there. He also gets to share the concerns of young Iraqis and American soldiers with U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer and Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. It's part of the channel's topical ``Choose or Lose'' campaign.